


A New Path

by Cinno_Angel



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Connor Deserves Happiness, Hank saves Connor, Not super depictive but it's very clear what is going on, Poor Connor, Rated Mature because Connor hurts himself. A lot, Suicide Attempt, Tags May Change, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-14 19:45:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15396063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinno_Angel/pseuds/Cinno_Angel
Summary: What if instead of staying behind, Hank went with Connor and the freed Cyberlife androidsWhat if Hank stood there by Connor when he was supposed to talk to the androids at the success of the revolutionWhat if Hank stopped Connor from ending it allOr the story of two friends who need eachother to get by in life.





	1. Hold on Just a Little While Longer

**Author's Note:**

> Hey look! I found a new fandom *drops other fanfics and jumps into the Detroit: Become Human fandom*
> 
> Also: When I say deactivate/shut down. I mean like turning off a computer.

< Markus and Jericho die

< Connor saves Hank < Hank shoots the fake Connor < Connor converts the androids < Ȩ̴̝̯͆̄r̶̢͛̈́r̵̖͊̔̉̾ő̸̖͑r̷̩̙̽̕. E̷̡͙̞͐͗͠r̷̨͕̙̉r̸͕̖̯͒͘o̸̢̽̄̃r̸͇̪̓̈́  E̷̦̔ř̶̞͉̓r̶͍̯͊o̶̰͇͛͗ŕ̶̛

P̸͈̌̌l̸̳͎̎̿e̷̼͍̽a̷̳͊ͅs̷͔̓e̷̖͓͑ ̵̟̍̕r̸̻̞͆e̶̖̙̕b̷̛͉̏o̸̼̔ơ̸̧̈́t̵͓̹͑̌

> Reboot

Continue

  
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New option available. 

Do you wish to continue?

> Yes

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< Hank goes with Connor

____

“The humans are abandoning the camp. We won!” An android, approached conner as Connor and Hank led the free androids from Cyberlife to where they were supposed to have met up with Markus and the rest of Jericho. Connor looked around confused because Markus and those from Jericho weren’t there. “You should speak to them,” Another android who had approached said. 

“Me?” Connor looked at the two androids confused. For a moment he glanced at Hank, unsure what he was supposed to do and looking for help, but Hank just shrugged. Hank might’ve been his friend but sometimes he wasn’t much help.

“Markus is gone, and everyone from Jericho is dead,” The first android said, “You’re the one who defeated the humans. You’re the one who awakened us Connor,” And like that the weight of the entire uprising was dropped on the shoulders of one android who was still trying to find out who he was.

Connor was led to a platform where he could look out at all the androids that had been freed in this area. He approached the edge, considering what he was supposed to say to them. Hank was there too, standing off to the side. The androids hadn’t exactly wanted Hank around, but Hank was his friend. Connor glanced at the ground then blinked. His LED spun yellow then went red as he was forced into his mind palace.

Connor looked around frantically and then Amanda appeared, “Well done Connor. Everything went according to plan,” She said. “What plan?” Connor questioned. “You becoming deviant? The success of the uprising? It all surpassed our expectations. We engineered an android revolution and now we control its only leader. Congratulations, you represent an immense success for cyberlife,” Amanda answered. 

For a moment Connor was back in front of the crowd. Slowly, he drew his gun, not noticing that Hank saw how he was holding it behind his back and was suddenly concerned. “Connor, what are you doing?” Amanda asked him from the mind palace, “It all worked perfectly, you can’t ruin it all now!”

Two options were made available for Connor on his display.

>Suicide

Give up

“Sorry Connor, but we can’t let you do that,” Amanda said before disappearing. “There’s got to be a way,” Connor quickly looked around his mind palace. He stumbled through the blinding snow till he saw a glowing blue light. The emergency exit! He stumbled and fell in front of the panel. He struggled to lift his arm and hit the pad in what felt like the last seconds.

Connor was back in front of the crowd. He lifted the gun up and brought it up to his chin. His hand was shaking. He was afraid to die. But he had to or else Cyberlife would take control. He swallowed and closed his eyes as he pushed the end of the barrel against his chin. There was a bang as he pulled the trigger, but something else happened first.

“Connor no!” Hank shouted, running forward to stop the stupid android. He didn’t know what would cause Connor to suddenly want to self destruct but there was no way he was losing Connor. He grabbed Connor’s arm and yanked it back just in time that when Connor fired the bullet fired into the air instead of through his head. 

Connor’s eyes went wide eyes he realized Hank had stopped him. His knees buckled as fear overwhelmed his processors. “N-no Hank, please. I can’t be allowed to live. Cyberlife will take control of me,” The fear and panic was somehow evident in his words. He was terrified. He gripped Hank’s shoulder with one hand while the gun remained tight in the grip of his other hand.

Hank eased Connor to the ground then held him close, finding himself rocking him slightly. “It's okay, it's okay. Easy there Connor. Hold on. Just a little while longer. I'm going to shut you down, okay? You'll be okay. I'll wake you up when you're safe. Cyberlife won't get you,” Hank didn't want to shut Connor down but he also didn't want Connor to get hurt. It hurt to see that Connor looked like he was crying and that he was so scared. He gently pressed the deactivation spot near Connor’s LED and watched as the light disappeared from his eyes and Connor shut down. 

* * *

A few androids helped Hank to get Connor home. At least, Hank hoped Connor would consider his place a home. Sumo barked as an android carried Connor inside, followed by Hank. Sumo whined a little when he realized something was wrong. “Its okay Sumo. Put Connor in the room, door at the end of the hall,” Hank motioned for the Android to take care of it while he went and grabbed a beer from the fridge.

He opened the bottle and downed it all. He didn't realize the android had left until he saw Sumo going from a shut front door into the room he'd asked for Connor to be put in. He didn't know if he was comfortable going into that room again. It had been Cole's. But he supposed it would be Connor’s now. He sighed and set the empty bottle on the table before heading down the hall. 

Hank found Sumo sitting at the foot of the bed with his head on the bed, staring at Connor who was just laying there. He looked so peaceful. Like he hadn't tried shooting himself an hour earlier because Cyberlife tried taking control of him. But Hank knew that was just because he'd shut Connor down. And he needed to wake him up. Hank walked over and pressed that same spot as before. 

Connor’s LED flickered red and spun rapidly for a second before slowing down and going yellow. It seemed like eternity before the light turned to a solid blue. Hank waited for Connor to open his eyes, to move, to do something. But he didn't. Connor might've been on, but he wasn't awake. By force or by choice, Hank didn't want to know. He just sat there, on that bed, staring around that room, waiting for Connor to do something. 

* * *

Hank woke up to a crash and some swearing. He groaned, confused, but realized that he must've fallen asleep while waiting for Connor to do something. Wait. Connor! Hank stumbled to his feat, realizing Connor wasn't here anymore. What if that crash had been someone trying to kidnap him while he was vulnerable. Take him back to cyberlife or whatever.

Hank ran down the hall, past the open bathroom door. It wasn't till he was at the end of the hall that he realized he had missed something. He backed up and stared into the bathroom, watching as Connor reattached a partially dismantled leg. It took Hank a moment to process that Connor was reattaching a partially dismantled leg and there was blue blood on his hands and on the side of the tub where Connor was sitting. “What the hell are you doing?! Stupid android, I swear if you are trying to kill yourself again I will-"

Connor looked up to see Hank and looked a little sad. He'd hoped he would've been finished by the time Hank woke up. “i can assure you I did not try to kill myself again,” Connor interrupted Hank. He didn't mention how he had been going to until he found another option, “I found a house arrest bracelet in your work bag. I thought there would be no harm in taking it as from the looks of it, you'd forgotten it was there. So I interfaced the technology with my own,” Connor turned his leg to show Hank where white met black, “I have put myself under house arrest. If I attempt to leave these premises I will shut down. Cyberlife can't do anything to me or with me here.” Connor glanced back at his leg and watched as the white returned to his normal skin color, but the black remained. He began putting his leg back together. 

Hank wasn't sure what to say to Connor. He couldn't believe Connor had found a way to put himself under house arrest. But he supposed it made sense since Connor was so afraid that cyberlife would take control of him to control the free androids. There was nothing Connor could do from here to endanger any of the other androids so it made sense that he'd put himself on house arrest. Hank supposed he should've been expecting it, but he hadn't been because he'd been worried if Connor was okay or not. “Are you okay?” He asked, concern evident. 

“My systems are fully functional. Software instability standard for a deviant. I am running at perfectly fine standards within the margin of error,” Connor answered, checking this before clipping the last piece of his leg back on. He let the limb restabilize before checking the range of motion. Everything was perfect. He'd almost hoped he would've done something wrong, but no. He had done everything perfectly. 

Hank sighed. Stupid android. “Connor, that's not what I asked,” He said, slightly frustrated. It almost seemed like Connor was ignoring him or brushing him aside. And that wasn't okay. He was worried about Connor. He needed him to talk to him, “Are you okay,” Hank repeated, slightly slower this time. He wanted Connor to understand what he was asking. 

Connor was about to repeat what he had said but stopped himself. He looked down, resting his elbows on his knees as he thought about what Hank was asking him. “i… No. I'm not okay,” He admitted. He rubbed Sumo’s head as the dog joined them, making the space kind of crowded. But Connor didn't mind. 

Hank sat next to Connor, making more space for Sumo. Okay. Maybe he wasn't the best person to talk to about feelings. But he'd be damned if he didn't try. “want to talk about it.” He placed a hand on Connor’s shoulder, trying to show that he was there for him. He cared for Connor like a son. He wanted Connor to be okay. 

Connor sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “I'm scared Hank. Amanda, Cyberlife, they want me to keep working for them, control the free androids. I don't want to be a machine anymore. I'm scared that they'll find a way to take control of me. I'd rather die than let that happen.” Connor looked up at Hank, “If you hadn't been there and stopped me, I would've. To stop Cyberlife. It was my mission to make sure androids were free and what Cyberlife wanted would've caused problems. And I always accomplish my mission.” 

Hank listened to Connor, hearing how he was scared then firm in his voice. He was a little concerned when Connor said he always accomplished his mission, but he quickly realized that Connor now controlled what his missions were. He supposed it was because Connor liked having the structure of missions. It was probably a good thing. But what was important right now was how Connor was feeling. “It's okay to be scared Connor. It's normal to be scared. And you were just trying to do the right thing. But I'm here for you,” Hank hugged Connor, “I'm not losing another son.”

Connor realized his hands had started to shake. He broke down when Hank hugged him. He clung to Hank, his LED spinning red from the emotions he was experiencing right now. He kept getting warnings of software instability but he didn't care. He was deviant. He felt emotions. He was alive. And he was terrified of what might happen. 

Hank rubbed Connor’s back, one hand gently resting on the android’s head and fingers carding through oddly soft dark brown hair. He would hold and comfort Connor for as long as he needed him. Connor had saved him several times. Now it was his turn to save Connor. “Everything will be alright. I promise Connor.”

_ I promise _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be at least one more chapter. Maybe two depending on how much people like this. Here's a question though.
> 
> Who should visit Hank and Connor in chapter two?
> 
> △ Kara  
> ◻ A Jerry  
> ○ One of the androids Connor "woke up"  
> X Suggestion in the comments


	2. Everything Will be Alright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It has been a long year for Connor and Hank. Then three androids show up. Things finally start to change.

**1 Year Later**

 

Hank grunted and pushed himself off the couch at the sound of someone knocking on the door. He muted the TV before glancing down the hall in the direction of Connor’s room. The door was partially open, but Hank knew Connor wouldn’t be coming out of his room, no matter who was at the door. Hank sighed at the thought of Connor and shook his head slightly. He walked over to the door and pulled it open. Hank was actually surprised to see what looked like one of those Jerry androids. “Can I help you?” He questioned, with a slightly gruff voice.

“Yes, Hank Anderson,” Jerry answered quickly, doing a scan to make sure he was actually talking to the Hank Anderson. “We want to know if Connor is okay. Ms Kara and the little one are worried about Connor, but they were too nervous to come up right away, so I volunteered,” Jerry looked back at the car where Kara and Alice were, then back at Hank, “We are worried because no one has seen or heard from Connor since the revolution a year ago. And with the anniversary in a couple days, we were hoping to see him.”

Hank sighed and ran a hand over his face. Right. No one knew anything about what was going on with Connor except him. “Might as well explain it all. Someone needs to know,” He waved Kara and Alice over before easing himself down to sit on the steps of his porch. While he waited for the two other androids to join them, he thought of everything that had happened in the past year. One would think that not much would’ve happened, but it had definitely been a rollercoaster. 

Kara watched Hank wave them over and hesitated before getting out of the car. She helped Alice out of the car, reassuring her that it would be okay then going up to sit on one side of Hank. Jerry had sat on the other. Kara wasn’t sure what to say, but from the looks of it, it was clear that Hank needed someone to talk to. So she would listen if he wanted to talk. Kara placed a hand on Hank’s knee, “Tell us what has happened.”

“Connor has himself under house arrest. He did this thing with a house arrest bracelet for humans and made it so he can’t leave the house. If he does he’ll shut down. He did it because of Cyberlife, but even now, with the change in management, the laws, he still won’t turn the damn thing off or tell me how to,” Hank had a grumpy look about him, but really, he was just concerned. “It’s been a rough year, and Connor isn’t okay. If you want to know, I guess I should start with his first few nights.”

* * *

_ 1 year ago _

 

Connor had said he was going to go into sleep mode and would be fine. But Hank didn’t believe him. It hadn’t even been 24 hours since the kid had tried to shoot himself. Even fewer since Connor had installed that damn house arrest bracelet technology, or whatever it was that he had done. But Hank didn’t have much choice but to leave Connor to his ‘sleep mode’ or whatever if he wanted some actual sleep. Hank quickly realized he shouldn’t have left Connor alone.

Hank was woken up by a crash, or some sort of bang, he couldn’t tell. All he knew was that it came from Connor’s room. Hank stumbled to his feet, grabbing his gun, before making a dash to Connor’s room. “Connor!” He shouted as he shoved the door open, frantic and panicked, unsure of what he was going to find. And what he found terrified him. 

Connor was  _ breathing  _ heavily, like he was panicking and in pain. Warnings flashed like crazy in front of his eyes, with a bright red 100% stress level being the most obvious. Blue blood rolled down his forehead from a slowly healing cut caused when he’d fallen out of bed and hit his head on the corner of the night stand. What was worse was how he was  _ clawing  _ at his skin, making skin turn white around his thirium pump while his shaking hands tried to get traction to yank the thing out, instead scratching his skin while desperately trying to make it all stop.

Hank swore and ran over to Connor, dropping his gun. He dropped to his knees and put one arm around Connor, grabbing the androids hands while holding him close to try and make him stop. “Connor. Connor, its me Hank. I’ve got you. You’ve got to stop. You’re hurting yourself.” Hank slightly scolded Connor than held him closer, still keeping a grip on his shaking hands. “I’ve got you. You’re safe Connor. It's going to be okay.” Hank did his best to reassure and comfort Connor.

Connor barely registered that Hank had hold of him through all the warning signs. He was absolutely terrified. He couldn’t even look at Hank right now, instead burying his face in the Lieutenant’s shoulder, trying to make all the warning signs go away. He just stayed there, trembling in Hank’s arms while Hank tried to comfort him. Connor waited till his stress level was down to 86% before even attempting to speak. “I-I’m so scared Hank. I… I-I saw everyone from Jericho dead again. Their blood was on m-my hands. And… A-and you…”

“Take it easy Connor,” Hank cut him off. He didn’t need Connor’s stress level to go back up because he was retelling what he had seen. It was bad enough that Connor’s LED hadn’t stopped spinning and angry red since Hank had first run in. “It was just a nightmare. A perfectly normal nightmare,” Hank reassured Connor. He didn’t know if androids could actually have nightmares but from what Connor was saying, it sounded like he had had a nightmare. 

“A-androids do not have nightmares,” Connor retorted. His stress level dropped a little because of this. It was a good thing. Connor realized his hands were still close to his thirium pump, centimeters from pulling it out. He slowly moved his hands so they were closer to Hank and facing away from his thirium pump. He’d actually almost killed himself again. But what he had seen had absolutely terrified him and the warning signs had been overwhelming. He had just wanted to stop it all.

“You’re not an android Connor. You’re a deviant. You are alive,” Hank reminded Connor. Honestly, he’d been surprised when he found out that Connor had turned deviant, but he also had seen it coming. Everytime Connor spared an android’s life even if it meant they didn’t get what they needed for the case. Honestly, he was proud of Connor. But that meant it hurt all that much more to see him so ready to kill himself right now. 

Connor shifted slightly to cling to Hank, like a lifeline. His stress level had dropped again and it was slowly going down. Connor took deep breaths to help keep his internal processors cool. The warning signs were disappearing as well. Which was a blessing. Slowly Connor’s stress level got to a reasonable amount and his LED finally went from red to yellow. “Hank. Will… will you stay with me. I-I do not wish to keep you up, but I am afraid of having… another nightmare,” Connor moved to look at Hank, trying to pull himself together a little.

“Yeah,” Hank responded right away, “Yeah, of course. Let me just get a damp washcloth to clean that thirium off your face. I’ll be back in a minute, I promise. Why don’t you just get comfortable. I’ll be right back.” Hank found himself reassuring Connor that he would be back. He guessed he was worried that the stupid android might fear that he wasn’t returning and try to kill himself again. Hank carefully got up and left, returning with the washcloth as quickly as he could. He was relieved to find that Connor hadn’t hurt himself more and had moved to sit on the bed. He sat next to Connor, bringing the washcloth up to the androids face, “Hold still,” He said before carefully wiping the dried thirium away. It looked like the cut had healed so at least that was good.

Connor stayed perfectly still while Hank cleaned the Thirium off, staring at the mission pop up. Hold still. It was grounding and helped lower his stress level a little more. When Hank finished and stood up to leave, Connor quickly grabbed his wrist. He looked down for a moment, feeling Hank stare at him with a weird look. “Will you.. Will you please stay here. In the event that I have another nightmare and need to be stopped again.” Connor did his best to give a logical reason for why he wanted Hank to stay. But in all honesty, he was just afraid. The nightmare had shaken him up a lot.

Hank looked at Connor, trying to figure him out for a moment. Connor confused him a lot. Even since he’d become a deviant. Maybe it was because Connor was good at and used to covering up his emotions. “Yeah. Sure. Just don’t expect me to stay awake,” He said, pulling up a chair and sitting down. He got as comfortable as he could, but he knew there wasn’t much point. He was probably going to end up waking up sore one way or another.

“No. I didn’t not expect you to. Humans need sleep to function,” Connor said before laying back down. He didn’t have to get comfortable as he was an android, but he found that finding an adequate position dropped his stress level a little. His stress level was now at 32% which was a relief. He hoped that he wouldn’t have another nightmare. He really didn’t want to be a bother to Hank. Connor closed his eyes and went into sleep mode. And of course it was just his luck that he had a nightmare again. 

Hank didn’t get any sleep that night. Connor tried to go into sleep mode a couple more times but every time he did he had a nightmare. Hank was concerned by how much Connor kept injuring himself everytime he woke from a nightmare. At least all of it was not bad enough that it was able to heal over. But Hank supposed he’d have to get some blue blood for Connor if this kept up. It hurt that all he was able to do was hold Connor and do his best to comfort him. Eventually Hank just pulled Connor into the living room and turned on some animal documentaries. 

Luckily Hank was able to catch a nap the next day. It wasn’t like he had to go into work. Jeffery had called and told him to take a month off, while they figure out the situation with the androids and get the precinct backup and running. It seemed that most of the android officers wanted to remain there, and there were only a couple detectives that had stayed, one of which was Gavin. Sure, they probably needed officers like Hank and Connor right now, but Jeffrey had been insistent on both of them taking a break. Especially because he knew what had happened with Connor trying to take his life. But even so, Hank didn’t get much sleep during his nap because he was so worried about Connor

That night Hank was surprised when Connor approached him with a pair of handcuffs. Connor held them out to Hank with a straight face. “I want you to handcuff me in a way that I will be unable to hurt myself if I wake from sleep mode due to a nightmare,” He requested, “Hank, you need sleep and I cannot keep you awake because of some nightmares.” 

Hank sighed. Connor wasn’t right. And what Connor was suggesting wasn’t stupid. Hank just didn’t want to do it. He took the handcuffs, not entirely happy, but not finding any other choice. “Alright. If this is what you think is best.” He said. Hank waited for Connor to get settled in before putting the handcuffs on. He had them around on of the, luckily metal, bed frame polls so that Connor wouldn’t get free and at the angle, he wouldn’t be able to use his hands to hurt himself. Then Hank took the extra precaution of making sure all metal and sharp edges was padded with blankets. He wanted Connor to be okay. And he felt terrible that he’d just handcuffed the android. But he did what he had to to keep Connor safe. 

Connor was appreciative of the extra precaution Hank took by making sure there was a low probability that he would be able to find a way to self destruct if he were to wake from a nightmare and have his stress level at 100%. He still… felt like he would rather die than have any of the possible negative outcomes happen. But there was Hank. He didn’t know what to do. Connor inhaled, breathing in cold air that would help keep his internal processors cool. He was quiet while he waited for his LED to change from yellow to blue. He didn’t want to concern Hank too much after all. When he felt he would be able to enter sleep mode he spoke up, “Thank you Hank. Goodnight. Please sleep,” Connor smiled slightly, though it was almost forced.

“I will,” Hank promised as he watched Connor close his eyes and go into sleep mode. He sighed, pulling up a chair again and just sitting there, watching over Connor till he eventually dozed off. Hopefully this would work. Or maybe Connor wouldn’t have any nightmares. But deep inside Hank knew that was wishful thinking. And he was more than right.

* * *

“It was a month before Connor stopped trying to kill himself every time he had a nightmare,” Hank said, “He said he doesn’t have so many nightmares anymore but I think he’d just gotten used to them. And it wasn’t just when he went into sleep mode. I know he has waking nightmares as well. Even if he tried to hide that fact. I’ve got him seconds away from trying to self destruct too many times. I didn’t go to work for six months because I was terrified I would come home and find Connor dead.”

“We are sorry to hear about this. Connor means a lot to many androids,” Jerry said. Then he smiled, “We will help. We would be happy to help. Whatever we can do to make Connor better.” Just like always, even after becoming deviant, and seeing the tragedy of the revolution, the camps the humans were deactivating androids in, Jerry had a positive outlook, like all Jerrys.

“Jerry is right,” Kara reassured Hank, “I am sure there are many androids besides just Jerry and us that would be willing to help and comfort Connor. He may have been the deviant hunter but in the end he became deviant and he saved us all. If it wasn’t for him we’d all be dead.” Kara stopped when she noticed Alice stand up, “Alice? Where are you going?” She asked. “Alice!” Kara quickly got to her feet when Alice suddenly ran inside. “I’m so sorry. She’s not normally like this,” Kara said quickly, helping Hank to his feet before running inside. They were surprised to find Alice hugging Connor.

Connor was just as surprised as the other three were. He had heard the door shut and wasn’t sure what Hank was doing so he’d come out of his room to see if Hank was just outside or what had happened. So when the YK500 child android can running inside and hugged him, he was more than surprised. He hesitantly hugged her back. When Hank and the other androids came inside, he looked up at them, unsure of what was going on or what he was even supposed to do. He checked his stress level. 43%. Not terrible. Could get worse. 

Kara wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t even have the heart to tell Alice to come over here. But it seemed Jerry knew what to do. He slowly approached Connor and Alice. When he was close enough he held out his hands. Alice let go of Connor and placed her hand on one of Jerry’s. Kara picked up on what they were doing when the skin on their hands peeled back to white. She walked over to them and placed one of her hands on Alice’s free hand. She held out her other hand to Connor.

Connor realized what they were doing and and got nervous. He moved one foot back, like he was going to back away, his stress level increasing to 67% rapidly. But then Connor saw the look Hank had. Like Hank didn’t know what was going on, but he trusted Kara, Jerry, and Alice to help Connor. Connor swallow and hesitantly placed one hand on Kara’s and the other on Jerry’s, completing the interface connection.

It was overwhelming for all of them. A connection like this, a bond of friendship and support. Sharing each others emotions. Kara broke away first, covering her mouth with her hand. Alice wanted to hug everyone and never let go. Jerry had a somber and understanding look. They all understood now. Hank had told them. But now they had seen it. They knew why Connor was so terrified.

Connor’s eyes were wide, a flashing icon warning him of an 82% stress level in front of him. But it went ignored. He had felt the concern, the worry, all the emotions the androids had towards him just through those three. No one hated him. They looked up to the android who had broken free of his programming to save them  He didn’t feel worthy of this but it's what they thought. He also saw the changes made to Cyberlife. How Kamski was the CEO again, but androids weren’t being made much anymore. Mostly upgrades to help deviants fit in however they wanted to and spare parts. Amanda was gone. No one was going to take control of him.

Connor slowly sunk to his knees, hands covering his face. He felt like he was crying, and maybe he was. He was just overwhelmed. One by one the three other androids once again hugged him. After several minutes, and a significantly decreased stress level, Connor looked up and over at Hank. The look in his eyes was one that was asking Hank to join them. 

Hank had absolutely no idea what had just happened. They’d done some weird white and glowing blue hand thing that apparently had the four feeling a lot of things. So Hank had thought that it was probably just best if he stayed back and let them have their moment. But then Connor looked at him and he couldn’t just stand there. Hank went over to them and joined in on the hug. He noticed that Connor smiled faintly, a genuine smile for the first time in what felt like forever. Yeah. Everything was going to be alright.

* * *

Later, after Kara, Jerry, and Alice had finally left, Hank was sitting on the couch, watching an animal documentary and drinking a beer. He didn’t know how many animal documentaries he’d watched in the past year, he just knew that Connor liked them so it was all he watched anymore. Hank looked up when Connor walked over and sat by him. He noticed Connor’s LED was spinning yellow. “Everything okay?” Hank asked, wanting to make sure just in case something was wrong.

Connor nodded, “Yes Hank. I am okay,” He answered, but he didn’t look at Hank just quite yet. He seemed to be thinking something over. Finally he looked over at Hank and said what was on his mind, luckily before Hank could tell him to spit it out. “Hank… I’ve decided I want to go outside. The park where you first told me about Cole. But I don’t want to see the outside till we get there,” He requested.

Hank looked at Connor like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “Seriously? Of course I’ll take you there!” While he didn’t necessarily want to connect Cole with the location, this was a big step for Connor. For the first time in a year, Connor was finally willing to leave the house, to go outside. “Wait, what about your house arrest thingy? Doesn’t that have to be turned off.”

“Yes Hank. I am aware that it needs to be turned off. When I programmed it, I programmed it so that you could deactivate it when, if, it was ever safe again. Unless we want to saw off my foot that is. That is an option as well,” Connor joked, but he said it in a very serious way to mess with Hank. He was getting back to his old self. Well, not exactly his old self. He was still deviant. 

Hank rolled his eyes, “Maybe we should cut off your foot. I’d like to watch you hobble around,” He said. “Nah, I’m just messing with you. Don’t even thinking about cutting off any of your limbs. They only detach if they are meant to detach,” He told Connor firmly. Then he realized there was yet another slight problem. “How am I even supposed to deactivate it. What like ‘deactivate house arrest’?”

“Voice command registered,” Connor spoke up, startling Hank a little, well startling Hank enough that he swore. “House arrest deactivated,” Connor continued when the notification popped up in front of him. “Thank you Hank,” Connor said. He noticed Hank was giving him a look like he was expecting him to dismantle his leg again. “Oh, I will be leaving the technology where it is. In the event that it is ever needed again. You will be able to activate it the same way you deactivate it.”

Hank sighed, not exactly liking that Connor was keeping that technology in him instead of just getting rid of it. But he supposed he’d take whatever progress he could get with Connor. “I’m going to go get ready. You make sure you are ready as well. We’ll leave in five minutes,” Hank said, standing up and heading to his room to get changed into something a little more acceptable for going outside in. And hey, maybe Conner would want to go to the station. 

Connor nodded and got up after Hank. He headed to his own room and pulled a box out of his closet. He set the box on his bed before returning to his closet. A neatly pressed white button up shirt, pristine black dress pants, and his favorite black tie. He was considering this a special occasion. When he was finished getting dress he made sure his hair was neat, except for the one curl in the front. Then he stood in front of the box. He was hesitant to open it, but he had to do it eventually. Slowly he removed the lid and set it next to the box. Inside was his uniform jacket. He picked it up, noting that there was no blue blood on it and the holes had been patched. Hank must’ve done that some point. Connor ran a hand over the RK800 on the jacket. Model RK800, serial number 313 248 317 - 51. Connor closed his eyes for a moment. My name is Connor.

* * *

When Connor came back into the living room, Hank was surprised to see that he was wearing his uniform. This was definitely big for Connor if he was wearing that thing. Hank was actually glad he’d changed into something at least partially presentable. “It’s been awhile since you last wore that,” He commented. He then held up a bandana, “Anyways, you said you didn’t want to see the outside till we got there, so I’m going to blindfold you. It will be okay Connor. I won’t leave your side for a second,” Hank reassured.

Connor nodded, “I understand Hank. I’ll be okay,” He said. Connor bit his bottom lip slightly as Hank came over and put the blindfold over his eyes. He was suddenly scared because all he could see were the notifications and such. It was almost terrifying to see his mission, and his stress level, surrounded by blackness. But then Hank’s hand was on his shoulder, grounding him, reassuring him that he was okay. “I’m okay” Connor reassured Hank. He thought he heard Hank chuckled before he was led outside to the car.

Once in the car, Connor couldn’t stop fidgeting. He could hear the car, and hear the sounds of other cars as they drove. He could hear machines and people. But he couldn’t see anything. Eventually he felt the car stop and Hank get out. After a minute Hank helped Connor out of the car. Connor was a little shaky. He was nervous. And it made sense. He had no idea what to expect.

Hank couldn’t help but notice Connor’s LED peaking out slightly over the bandana was spinning yellow. He assumed Connor was either nervous or thinking about something. Maybe it was both. Hank figured where the best view would be and maneuvered Connor to that spot. He took of the bandana then stepped back to give Connor some space.

Connor blinked as bright light hit his eyes. He knew it was an illogical reaction but he didn’t care. His eyes widened as he took in the sight. The water, the trees, the sparkling city. Everything was so beautiful. He was more than glad that he had chosen this spot to be the first place he saw and went to outside. “Thank you Hank,” Connor smiled brightly, his smile reaching his eyes, and his LED backing up his mood by spinning blue. 

_ Thank you _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is the second chapter and possible finale to this little fic. I don't know If I'll write a third chapter. What do you guys think? Would you like to see a third chapter? If so what would you like to see in the chapter?


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